The No. 51 LSU men’s tennis team is beginning to tread in murky water with only two regular season matches remaining. The Tigers (5-14, 2-8) are on the brink of missing the NCAA tournament for the first time in Jeff Brown’s 12-year tenure. “We’re going to have to get on a roll, or it’s not going to happen,” Brown said after LSU’s 4-3 loss Sunday to Vanderbilt. The quest to make the NCAA tournament begins today as LSU hosts South Florida (7-12) at 3 p.m. in its final home match of the year. Brown speculates the top 45 or 50 teams in the country will make the field with at-large bids, leaving the Tigers, who have lost seven-straight matches, with work to do. “We have to beat South Florida, then Arkansas on the road and maybe win two at the Southeastern Conference tournament, but I’m not sure,” he said. The match against the Bulls was originally scheduled for March 9 but was rescheduled because of inclement weather.   The final home match of the season is traditionally held to honor the graduating seniors, but it won’t be any more significant than previous matches to the young Tigers. LSU has no seniors on a current roster littered with sophomores, freshman and a handful of juniors. The youth of the team reminds Brown of the team’s bright future despite the losing season. “We’ve been looking toward next year a bit,” he said. “The future looks good, but it’s hard to see that far right now.” LSU is fairly familiar with USF’s personnel, having squared off against them in late October at the USF Invitational.   Junior Sebastian Carlsson captured the singles portion of that tournament, but the two teams were evenly matched. LSU and USF split the singles and doubles matches down the middle, with each team winning four singles matches and two doubles matches. The Bulls are the defending Big East champions, and USF coach Don Barr believes today’s match can be sufficient preparation for USF to defend its title. “LSU is a good team, and it’s always a tough environment to play in over there,” Barr said in a news release. “This will be another good challenge for the team as we gear up for the Big East Championships.” Whether LSU will make the NCAA field is still unknown, but it won’t be because of a lack of skill. The Tigers have arguably faced one of the toughest schedules in the country and have faced 11 top-25 opponents. LSU had opportunities in seven of those 11 matches to capture key points but failed, which is the main reason for its ugly 5-14 record. “I actually said to the guys in the locker room [Sunday], ‘When this is over, whenever that is … we can probably take six or seven matches where if we are a little more focused on a 30-love point … you’d be amazed at what the difference could have been in the season,'” Brown said. —————Contact Sean Isabella at [email protected]